Content display device, content display method and program

ABSTRACT

A content display device includes: a display unit for displaying a content in a displayable area; a position detecting unit for detecting a touch position; a determination unit for determining whether or not the detected touch position is on the displayed content; and, a content movement control unit that, when the determination unit has determined that the detected touch position is on the displayed content while part of the content resides outside the displayable area of the display unit, performs a control so as to move and display the content in such a manner that an entire content is displayed within the displayable area.

This Nonprovisional application is a continuation under 35 USC § 120 ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/050,961 filed on Feb. 23, 2016,which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) to Patent Application No.2015-128345 filed in Japan on Jun. 26, 2015, the entire contents ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a content display device and the like.

(2) Description of the Prior Art

There have been conventionally known techniques of displaying one or aplurality of contents on a display screen in a movable manner usingwindows or the like.

Recently, in order to enlarge the displayable area that can displaycontents, techniques of using a plurality of display screens arrangedside by side or in other ways have been known. In this case, ordinarydisplay screen has a housing bezel, hence the visibility of contents isdegraded when the contents are displayed across the display screens.

To deal with this, for example, in multi-display technique, there havebeen disclosures of inventions whereby the visibility and operativity ofthe users are improved by avoiding the windows being displayed acrossmultiple displays as much as possible (for example, see Patent Document1).

RELATED ART DOCUMENTS Patent Documents [Patent Document 1]

Japanese Patent Application Laid-open 2006-251465

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

For example, there are cases where a content is displayed beyond thedisplayable area even with a single screen. In this case, when theoperation buttons of the window that is displaying the content arelocated on the right side, the right side part is positioned out ofsight from the displayable area, causing a problem it becomes impossibleto perform the operation.

Further, in a case of multi-display, there conventionally occurs theproblem that when the user wants to temporarily put aside a window thatis being displayed in one of the displays but keep in the same display,the window automatically jumps into another display. Further, dependingon the moved area of a content, it sometimes happens that the contentwindow is forcibly moved back regardless of user's intention. Thus,there sometimes occurred problems that the operation intended by theuser cannot be well achieved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above problems, it is therefore an object of the presentinvention to provide a content display device and the like that enableeven a content that is being displayed spreading beyond a displayablearea or being displayed across multiple displayable areas, to be movedand displayed in a pertinent position in an easy method.

Means for Solving the Problems

In view of the above problems, a content display device of the presentinvention includes:

a display unit for displaying a content in a displayable area;

a position detecting unit for detecting a touch position;

a determination unit for determining whether or not the detected touchposition is on the displayed content; and,

a content movement control unit that, when the determination unit hasdetermined that the detected touch position is on the displayed contentwhile part of the content resides outside the displayable area of thedisplay unit, performs a control so as to move and display the contentin such a manner that an entire content is displayed within thedisplayable area.

A content display method of the present invention includes the steps of:

displaying a content in a displayable area;

detecting a touch position;

determining whether or not the detected touch position is on thedisplayed content; and,

when, in the determining, determined that the detected touch position ison the displayed content while part of the content resides outside thedisplayable area of a display unit, moving and displaying the content insuch a manner that an entire content is displayed within the displayablearea.

A program of the present invention causes a computer to realize:

a display function for displaying a content in a displayable area;

a position detecting function for detecting a touch position;

a determination function for determining whether or not the detectedtouch position is on the displayed content; and,

a content movement control function that, when the determinationfunction has determined that the detected touch position is on thedisplayed content while part of the content resides outside thedisplayable area of a display unit, performs a control so as to move anddisplay the content in such a manner that an entire content is displayedwithin the displayable area.

Advantages of the Invention

According to the present invention, when the position touched by theuser is located on the displayed content and part of the content extendsoutside the displayable area of the display unit, it is possible tocontrol movement and display of the content so that the entire contentis displayed within the displayable area. Accordingly, the entirecontent can be displayed at a pertinent position at the timing the userintends.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an overall appearance view of the first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram for illustrating the functional configuration of adisplay device of the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a chart for illustrating the processing flow in the firstembodiment;

FIG. 4 is a diagram for illustrating coordinates in the firstembodiment;

FIG. 5 is a chart for illustrating the processing flow in the firstembodiment;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams for illustrating an operation example inthe first embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a chart for illustrating the processing flow in the secondembodiment;

FIG. 8 is a chart for illustrating the processing flow in the thirdembodiment;

FIG. 9 is an overall appearance view of the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a diagram for illustrating coordinates in the fourthembodiment;

FIG. 11 is a chart for illustrating the processing flow in the fourthembodiment;

FIGS. 12A and 12B are diagrams for illustrating an operation example inthe fourth embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a chart for illustrating the processing flow in the fifthembodiment;

FIGS. 14A and 14B are diagrams for illustrating an operation example inthe fifth embodiment; and,

FIG. 15 is a chart for illustrating the processing flow in the sixthembodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Now, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will bedescribed with reference to the drawings. Here, for descriptionconvenience, description will be made on exemplary embodiments, but itgoes without saying that the invention can be applied to any apparatusas long as is a device that can display contents.

1. The First Embodiment 1.1 Overall Configuration

To begin with, FIG. 1 shows the external appearance of a display device10 to which a content display device of the present invention isapplied. The display device 10 is a display device such as a liquidcrystal display and is formed with a touch screen that enables input bytouching.

In this case, the touch panel can receive an operation input such astouch, flick, slide and others from the user. As the method of detectingtouch and other input, a touch panel of a static capacitive type or atouch panel of a pressure sensitive type may be used. That is, the touchpanel may have any device configuration as long as it can correctlyreceive user's operation input such as touch and the like.

The display device 10 is not limited to, for example, general touchpanel displays but may be a device such as a computer, tablet terminal,smartphone, and car navigation and the like.

1.2 Functional Configuration

Next, the functional configuration of the display device 10 in thepresent embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 2. As shownin FIG. 2, the display device 10 includes a control unit 110, anoperation detecting unit 120, a display unit 130 and a storage 140.

The control unit 110 is a functional unit for controlling the whole ofthe display device 10. The control unit 110 realizes diverse kinds offunctions by loading and running various programs stored in the storage140, and can be configured of, for example, a CPU (Central ProcessingUnit) and others.

The operation detecting unit 120 is a functional unit for detectingoperations from the user. For example, this unit can be configured of atouch panel etc. As the mechanism of detecting operations, any methodcan be used such as a pressure-sensitive method such as a resistive filmmethod, a static capacitive method, an electromagnetic induction method,an infrared method and others.

The display unit 130 is a functional unit for displaying various piecesof information and contents to the user, and may be comprised of, forexample a liquid crystal display (LCD), organic EL display or the like.

The storage 140 is a functional unit for storing necessary variousprograms and various data for operating the display device 10. Thestorage 140 can be comprised of, for example, semiconductor memories,HDDs (Hard Disk Drives) and others.

Contents are also stored in the storage 140 so that some of them can beselected and displayed on the display unit 130. For this, the storage140 also stores the coordinates for each content and the coordinates ofa displayable area.

Here, in the present embodiment, the display device 10 performs bothdisplay and control but, control may be performed by another device. Forexample, control may be performed by a computer that is connected to adisplay device capable of detecting touch, via USB (Universal SerialBus)/HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) or the like.

1.3 Processing Flow

Next, the processing flow in this embodiment will be described withreference to FIG. 3. To begin with, when a touch to display unit 130 isdetected (Step S102), it is determined whether any content is beingdisplayed at the touch position (coordinates) on the display unit 130(Step S104).

In this case, a content is being displayed at the touch position, and itis determined whether or not the content is also displayed beyond thedisplayable area of the display unit 130 (Step S106). If the content isalso displayed beyond the displayable area, the content is moved so thatthe whole of a display area of the content displayed in one screen canbe included in the displayable area of the display unit 130 (Step S106;Yes->Step S108).

Now, one example of the process of moving a content so that the whole ofthe display area of the content is included in the displayable area willbe explained. Here, any other moving method can be used as long as thecontent is moved (re-displayed) so that the entire display area of thecontent residing at the touch position can be included in thedisplayable area.

Referring first to FIG. 4, the display coordinates will be described. Asthe coordinates representing the area that can be displayed by thedisplay unit 130 (the displayable area), a frame designated by (X1,Y1)−(X2, Y2) is configured.

In this case, the area of a content (content displayed area) isdisplayed in a position designated by (WX1, WY1)−(WX2, WY2). Bycomparing the content displayed area with the displayable area, thedisplay of the content is moved so that the entire content can beincluded in the displayable area.

Here, in the example shown in FIG. 4, of the content the area of (WX1,WY1)−(X1, WY2) is located outside the displayable area, so that thisarea is, in fact, not displayed on the display unit 130. That is, FIG. 4virtually shows the whole of the content, but the user cannot visuallyrecognize the part of the content located outside the displayable area.

In the description of the embodiment, displaying a content denotesdisplay of the whole content on the area including the part outside thedisplayable area, which is not actually displayed on the display unit130 but is assumed to be displayed in the victual area.

One example of the process in this embodiment will be describedreferring to FIG. 5. First, when the coordinate WX1 is smaller than X1,X1−WX1 is set as a coordinate quantity SX by which the content is to beshifted along the X-axis (FIG. 4) (Step S152; Yes->Step S154).

Next, when the coordinate WX2 is greater than X2, X2−WX2 is set as acoordinate quantity SX by which the content is to be shifted (Step S156;Yes->Step S158).

Subsequently, when the coordinate WY1 is smaller than Y1, Y1−WY1 is setas a coordinate quantity SY by which the content is to be shifted alongthe Y-axis (FIG. 4) (Step S160; Yes->Step S162).

Further, when the coordinate WY2 is greater than Y2, Y2−WY2 is set as acoordinate quantity SY by which the content is to be shifted by whichthe content is to be shifted (Step S164; Yes->Step S166).

Then, the content is moved. At this time, a margin value M may be set.For example, when the content is positioned in proximity to the boundaryof the displayable area, the margin value M may be set at ‘0’, whereaswhen the content is wanted to be placed with a margin, the value may beset at ‘10’ or the like.

Then, the content is moved SX+M in the X-axis direction and SY+M in theY-axis direction. As a result, the content is displayed within thedisplayable area.

1.4 Operation Example

Next, an operation example of actual operation will be described withreference to FIGS. 6A and 6B. FIG. 6A shows a display screen W100 onwhich a content C100 is displayed. In this case, an area R100 in thecontent C100 is not displayed on the screen. That is, the content isdisplayed on an area including also an outside (virtual area) of thedisplayable area.

In this condition, when the user touches the content C100 beingdisplayed in the display screen W100, the content C100 moves into thedisplayable area as shown in FIG. 6B. In this way, it is possible toappropriately display the entire of the content within the displayablearea by a simple operation such as touch to a content.

In the conventional configuration, an operation button is displayed, forexample, on a right side of the content in the displayed condition shownin FIG. 6A, and there occurs the problem that the operation buttoncannot be operated properly when the operation buttons are positionedoutside the displayable area. According to the present embodiment, evenin such a case, the content can be readily moved so that the user caneasily operate the operation button.

2. The Second Embodiment

Next, the second embodiment will be described. The second embodimentuses the processing flow shown in FIG. 7 instead of the processing flowof FIG. 3 in the first embodiment. Here, the same steps in theprocessing flow of FIG. 7 as those in the processing of FIG. 3 areallotted with the same reference numerals, and description of them isomitted.

The second embodiment is aimed at making it easy to select either thecase where a content is moved or the case where normal operation isperformed (when a content is selected) based on the touch operation.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, when the user touches the screen andthe detected user's touch (operation) is multipoint-touch (a touchoperation at two or more points), the content is moved if the content isdisplayed beyond the displayable area (Step S202; Yes->Step S106;Yes->Step S108).

On the other hand, when the detected touch is a normal touch operation(touch at a single point), a process in which the content is simplyselected is performed (Step S202; No->Step S204).

In this way, according to the present embodiment, it is possible todistinguish the process of automatically shifting a content anddisplaying the content in the displayable area over the other processes,based on the touch operation to be requested to the user. Accordingly,it is possible to avoid the movement of the content when the user hasnot intended.

As a variational example of this embodiment, the detecting process atStep S202 in the processing flow of FIG. 7 for determining whether ornot the detected operation is a multi-touch may be replaced by adetecting process of determining whether or not the detected operationis a double tap (an operation tapping the screen quickly twice at aparticular point). This case can also produce the same effect as thepresent embodiment does.

3. The Third Embodiment

Next, the third embodiment will be described. The third embodiment usesthe processing flow shown in FIG. 8 instead of the processing flow ofFIG. 3 in the first embodiment. Here, the same steps in the processingflow of FIG. 8 as those in the processing of FIG. 3 are allotted withthe same reference numerals, and description of them is omitted.

The third embodiment is aimed at making it easy to select either thecase where a content is moved or the case where normal operation isperformed (the case where a content is selected) when the user performsa touch operation.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, when the user touched the screen andhas continued for a predetermined period or longer than thepredetermined period (long pressed), the content is moved if the contentis displayed beyond the displayable area (Step S302; Yes->Step S106;Yes->Step S108).

On the other hand, when the detected touch is a normal touch operation(shorter than the predetermined period), performed is a process that thecontent is simply selected (Step S302; No->Step S304).

In this way, according to the present embodiment, it becomes possible todistinguish the process of automatically shifting a content anddisplaying the content in the displayable area from the other processes,based on the touch operation to be requested to the user. Accordingly,it becomes possible to avoid a movement of the content when the user hasnot intended.

4. The Fourth Embodiment

Next, the fourth embodiment will be described. The fourth embodiment isan exemplary embodiment of supporting a so-called multi-display where aplurality of display devices are used. That is, as shown in FIG. 9, adisplay device 10 and a display device 12 are arranged side by side.There are various displaying methods in multi-display, this embodimentwill be described on a case where the displayable area is expanded. Thatis, the displayable area of the display device 10 and the displayablearea of the display device 12 are recognized as a single area, which isdivided into parts for the individual display devices.

For example, as shown in FIG. 10, the displayable area of the displaydevice 10 (the first displayable area) is (X1, Y1)−(X2, Y2), and thedisplayable area of the display device (the second displayable area) is(X3, Y1)−(X4, Y2).

Accordingly, as a whole, a content can be displayed in the displayablearea (X1, Y1)−(X4, Y2). It should be noted that three or more displaydevices may be adopted and that the displays may be arranged vertically.

Since the functional configurations and the like in the presentembodiment are common to the first embodiment, description of them isomitted. As the difference of this embodiment from the first embodiment,the processing flow will be described referring the operation flow shownin FIG. 11. First, a touch is detected (Step S402), it is determinedwhether or not any content is being displayed at the position(coordinates) where the touch has been done (Step S404).

Here, when a content is displayed at the position where the touch hasbeen made, and when the content is displayed across a plurality ofdisplayable areas (Step S406; Yes), the display area of the content ismoved to the displayable area of the display device where the touch wasdetected so that the entire of the display area of the content isincluded the displayable area (Step S408).

There can be considered various methods to determine whether or not acontent is being displayed across multiple displayable areas. Forexample, when the display coordinate WX1 of a content is included on thefirst displayable area, it is determined whether or not WX2 is alsoincluded on the first displayable area.

If the size of the content (the number of vertical dots and the numberof horizontal dots) is known, it is also possible to determine whetheror not the content extends across a plurality of displayable areas, fromthe coordinate of WX1.

Referring now to FIGS. 12A and 12B, one operation example of the presentembodiment will be described. FIGS. 12A and 12B show a pair of displayscreens W400 (the first displayable area) and W410 (the seconddisplayable area) arranged side by side. On these displays, a contentC410 is displayed extending between the display screen W400 and thedisplay screen W410 (FIG. 12A).

Under this condition, a user's touch is detected. The touch position isin the content C410 on the display screen W410.

In this case, the content C410 moves to the display screen W410 side, asshown in FIG. 12B. The process of this movement may use the methoddescribed in the first embodiment.

In this way, in a multi-display environment, it is possible to move anddisplay a content easily to the desired display side by the user's touchon the content.

5. The Fifth Embodiment

Next, the fifth embodiment will be described. The fifth embodiment is anexemplary embodiment in which a flick operation is detected from a touchstate. The fifth embodiment uses the processing flow shown in FIG. 13instead of the processing flow of FIG. 11 in the fourth embodiment.Here, the common steps are allotted with the same reference numerals, sothat description of them is omitted.

When the content residing around the touch position extends over aplurality of displayable areas (Step S406; Yes), it is detected whetheror not there is a flick operation (Step S502).

When a flick operation is detected, the content is moved to thedisplayable area residing in a flick direction (Step S502; Yes->StepS504).

FIGS. 14A and 14B show the operation example of this case. In FIG. 14A,a content C510 is displayed extending between a display screen W500 (thefirst displayable area) and a display screen W510 (the seconddisplayable area).

In this case, the user touches the content C510 and performs a flickoperation in a direction P1. As a result, the content C510 moves so thatthe entire content C510 is displayed on the display screen W500, asshown in FIG. 14B.

In this way, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to movea content that extends across a plurality of displayable areas into thedisplay device (displayable area) located at a position to which theuser wants the content to move. In this case, differing from an ordinaryflick operation, the entire display area of the content can bedefinitely moved into a single displayable area.

6. The Sixth Embodiment

Next, the sixth embodiment will be described. The sixth embodiment usesthe processing flow shown in FIG. 15 instead of the processing flow ofFIG. 11 in the fourth embodiment. Here, the same steps as those in thefourth embodiment are allotted with the same reference numerals, anddescription of them is omitted.

When the content including the touch position is extended across aplurality of displayable areas (Step S406; Yes), the display of theentire content is moved into a displayable area of the display screenthat includes the greatest display proportion of the content (StepS602).

When, for example, a content is displayed extending between two displayswith 80% of the content in the first displayable area and 20% in thesecond displayable area, the content is moved to the first displayablearea wherever the content has been touched.

As a result, the user can pertinently move and display a content withthe minimum shift, without caring the touch position.

7. Variational Examples

As the embodiments of this invention have been detailed with referenceto the drawings, the specific configuration should not be limited tothese embodiments. Designs and others that do not depart from the gistof this invention should also be included in the scope of claims.

Also, it goes without saying that the present invention can be achievedby combination of the above embodiments. For example, by using a flickoperation in the fifth embodiment as a trigger in combination with thesecond embodiment, it is possible for the user to perform an ordinaryflick operation by a single-touch flick operation and perform theoperation of the fifth embodiment by a multi-touch flick operation.

The program to be operated in each device of the embodiment may be aprogram (program that makes a computer function) for controlling a CPUor the like so as to realize the functions of the embodiments describedabove. The information to be handled in these devices is temporarilystored in temporary memory (e.g., RAM (Random Access Memory) at the timeof processing, then is stored into storages such as various kinds of ROM(Read Only Memory) and/or HDDs, and is read out, modified and written inby the CPU, as necessary.

Herein, the recording medium for storing the program may be any ofsemiconductor mediums (e.g., ROM, non-volatile memory card, etc.),optical recording mediums/magneto optical mediums (e.g., DVD (DigitalVersatile Disc), MO (Magneto Optical Disc), MD (Mini Disc), CD (CompactDisc), BD (Blu-ray disc) and the like), magnetic recording mediums(e.g., magnetic tape, flexible disc, etc.), and the like. Further, thefunctions of the above-described embodiments are not only realized byexecuting the loaded program, but the functions of the present inventionmay also be realized in accordance with the instructions of the programbeing executed in cooperation with an operating system, anotherapplication program or the like.

To put the product on the market, the program may be stored on aremovable storing medium, or may be transferred to a server computer byway of a network such as the Internet or the like. In this case, it goeswithout saying that the storage device of the server computer is alsoincluded in the present invention.

Further, the whole or part of each device in the above-describedembodiments may also be typically realized by an LSI (Large ScaleIntegration) as an integrated circuit. The functional block of eachdevice may be given individually in the form of a chip, or the whole orpart may be integrated into a chip. The method of circuit integrationmay be realized in the form of a dedicated circuit or general purposeprocessing unit, not limited to LSI. It goes without saying that if atechnology of circuit integration replacing LSI technologies appearswith the progress of semiconductor technologies, the integrated circuitbased on that technology can also be used.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   10, 12: display device-   110: control unit-   120: operation detecting unit-   130: display unit-   140: storage

What is claimed is:
 1. A display apparatus comprising: a display fordisplaying content; a processor; and a memory that stores a program thatcauses the processor to control the display apparatus, wherein in a casewhere a part of the content is outside a displayable area of the displayand a position of a touch operation detected in the displayable area ison the content, the processor moves and displays the content so that anentire of the content is displayed on an end in the displayable areawhere the touch operation is detected.
 2. The display apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the touch operation is at least one of atap, double-tap, multipoint-touch, long pressed, or flick operation. 3.The display apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when the touchoperation is a normal touch operation, the processor operates thecontent, and when the touch operation is the multi-point touchoperation, the processor moves and displays the entire of the content.4. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein The processordetermines whether the content is outside the displayable area of thedisplay by comparing the coordinates of the displayable area with thecoordinates of the area of the content.
 5. The display apparatusaccording to claim 4, wherein The processor determines whether or notany of the coordinates indicating a display area of the content isoutside the displayable area of the display.
 6. The display apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein The processor determines a movement amountof the content displayed on the displayable area based on the differencebetween the coordinates of the displayable area and the coordinates ofthe area of the content, moves the entire of the content by the movementamount, and displays the entire of the content in proximity to the endin the displayable area of the display.
 7. The display apparatusaccording to claim 6, wherein the movement amount is an amount of thedifference between the coordinates of the displayable area and thecoordinates of the area of the content or an amount obtained by adding amargin value to the difference between the coordinates of thedisplayable area and the coordinates of the area of the content.
 8. Adisplay method of a display apparatus, the display method comprising:displaying content on a display, and in a case where a part of thecontent is outside a displayable area of the display and a position of atouch operation detected in the displayable area is on the content,moving and displays the content so that an entire of the content isdisplayed on an end in the displayable area where the touch operation isdetected.
 9. A non-transitory recording medium storing a program thatcauses a computer mounted on a display apparatus to execute a processcomprising: displaying content on a display, and in a case where a partof the content is outside a displayable area of the display and aposition of a touch operation detected in the displayable area is on thecontent, moving and displays the content so that an entire of thecontent is displayed on an end in the displayable area where the touchoperation is detected.